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VOL. 37 NO 40
TOBACCO'S FOES
LOSING GROUND
Canvass of 7,847 Editors Shows
7,393 Communities Against
Abolishing Weed.
ANTIS LOSE THREE STATES.
Utah, Under Mormon Influence, Only
Commonwealth to Adopt Prohibi
tion Measure During Year.
"Ts tobacco going to have its scalp
added to the belt of the prohibitionist
beside that of the lamented but as
yet not altogether late alcohol?" is
the question asked by Garret Smith
in an article- In the cumwrTssue "61"
Leslie's Magazine."
The writer reaches the conclusion
that while there has been increased
agitation and legislative activity on
the subject of tobacco following the
success of the drive for prohibition
of liquor the efforts of reformers seek
ing to abolish tobacco have no general
support. This opinion is based on the
results of the questionnaues on the
subject sent out to newspaper editors
of the country by the Press Service
Company of New York City.
The questions asked were:
(1) Do you favor the enactment of
laws prohibiting the personal use of
tobacco by adults?
(2) In your judgment does th gen
eral sentiment of your community
favor such legislation?
(3) Is the use of tobacco personal
ly objectionable to you?
No arguments accompanied the ques
tions and from their form it was im
possible for any editor to determine
the attitude of the questioners.
Out of 12,518 editors questioned,
7,847 replied according to the summary
given. These editors, it is estimated,
represent a combined circulation of
21,870,046 Of the 7,847 editors reply
ing, 7,393, or 93 per cent, represent,
public sentiment in their communities,
as opposed to anti-tobacco legislation.
Only 260 editors, or 3 per cent of
those replying believed there was any
considerable sentiment favorable to
tobacco prohibition There were 174,1
or 2 per cent, in doubt, while 20 failed
to record their judgment.
Editors' Judgment Unbiased
"It is of special interest to note
that 569 editors in answering the first"
question, personally favored such
legislation, although only 260 of them
reported that public opinion also fa
vored the prohibition of tobaccoan
indication of the conscientious effort
made by the editors to distinguish pub
lic opinion from their own personal
opinions," the article continues.
"The highest percentage of replies
reporting public opinion favorable to
prohibition of tobacco came from Utah,
where 42 per cent of the editors
thought the public were for such a
movement. Utah is the only state
which has since adopted an anti
cigarette law. The result was fore
cast by several of the editors who
stated that the influence of the Mor
mon Church was agjfinst tobacco. The
Mormon Church is also strong in Idaho,
which is the other state where the use
of tobacco was recently prohibited,
but the governor has signedfthe bill
just passed, in which the prohibitory
legislation is repealed. In this state
89 per cent of the editors estimate
sentiment in their communities as
against tobacco prohibition, which,
nevertheless, is 6 per cent below the
average reported opposition.
"The legislature of Tennessee some
weeks ago passed and the governor
has signed a bill repealing the anti
cigarette law of that state. The ques
tionnaire showed 93 per cent of its
editors believed the public against
anti-tobacco legislation. The legisla
ture of Arkansas has also passed a
bill repealing its anti-cigarette law. Jn
this state 94 per cent of the edWgfe
reported against tobacco prohibition.
Arizona's Practical Joke
"A bill, introduced in the current
session of the legislature of Arizona
to prohibit smoking in public dining
rooms and other public places, was
first amended to prohibit the consump
tion in public of peanuts, chewing
gum, tea and coffee and then defeated
by the senate. The questionnaire
returns from that state were 92 per
cent 'no.'
"In Iowa where the 'no's' were 95
per cent a bill to repeal the anti
cigarette law has been passed and
signed by th governor.
"A bill to repeal the anti-cigarette
law in Kansas, with 89 per cent 'no's,'
is receiving the attention of its legis
lature Last year a petition for a
referendum in Oregon to prohibit the
use of tobacco failed of sufficient sig*
natures to bring the question to a
vote, and 95 per cent of the editors
declare their public against legislation.
In Oklahoma an anti-cigarette bill has
been reported unfavorably in the
house. The editors of that state re
ported 94 per cent against its public
support.
"Outside of Utah, where Mormon
influence predominates," the article
concludes, "the anti-tobacco move
ment appears, as in the case of Ten
r-w^egsee, Arkansas and Iowa, to. be los
ground and is not to any consid
extent supported by th peo-
HAS LIVELY EVENING
Alleged Thief Leaps 40 Feet and
Lands on Auto.
Then He*Tries to Take 30-Foot Plunge
to Railroad Tracks, but Police
man Gets Him.
New York.This is how Alex Ur
banuff, twenty-six, an unemployed tail
or, accused of having robbed a woman
Of her pocketbook containing $10,
spent an evening.
First returned the^purse containing
the money at the Bridge Plaza ele
vated station in Long Island city,
where he is accused of purloining it,
when his alleged victim confronted
Jbjm,
Ran when his accuser, Mrs. Mary
Howell of 322 Crescent street
screamed for the police.
Leaped from the end of the station
platform to the tracks.
Made record speed for four blocks
when pursued by a special policeman
and a crowd of men.
At a point over the Diagonal street
viaduct he almost ran into an ap
proaching tram.
To save himself he leaped 40 feet
for the street.
He landed on top of a swift pass
ing automobile and was bounced off
to the roadway.
He saw Mounted Patrolman Kav
anaugh coming toward him, ran to
the railing of the viaduct and was
about to leap to the tracks of the
Long Island railroad, a distance of 40
feet, when he was intercepted.
Taken to Hunter's Point police sta
tion he was finger-printed.
Suffering from shock and other in
juries, he was removed to St. John's
hospital.
Here he was found to have sus
tained a bad injury to his left leg and
shoulder and possibly internal injur
ies.
ORPHAN FINDS HOME
Miss Clara Brown, Los Angeles,
while visiting the Diamond Bar ranch,
was moved with Sympathy by an or
phaned two-day-old pig. She took the
little one, and now "Diamond" enjoys
all the comforts of a pretty home. His
happiest moments are at meal time,
when Miss Brown feeds the "babV," as
the picture shows.
i 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
4 4
4 4 4 4 4 4
4 4 4 4
4 4 4 4 4 4 4
V5
'he friends of tobacco feel partial
ly elated over this showing, inas
ih as 1920-21 was a maximum year
egislative circles with 42 state leg
ires in session
#and the tobacco sub
received an unusual amount of
lideration^
-a-
Squirrel Found in
Stomach of Trout
Columbia, La.Can fish climb
a tree or do squirrels take a
bath occasionally? This is the
question being asked by G. T.
McSween. While lie and Ms
daughter, Mrs. Annie Wear,
were fishing in Horseshoe lake
they Caught five unusually large
trout, two of which appeared to
be somewhat overfed. On open
ing them, a squirrel was found
in one, and a two-pound gar fish
in the other.
How that trout got that squir
rel is the puzzling proposition.
4 4
'OLIVER TWIST'S' JAIL CLOSED
"Floating Crematory" for Japs.
Tokyo.Tokyo will soon have a
'^floating crematory," thcf* first of its
kind in Japan. jf y**f
Two specially ^constructed "vessels of
150 tons each, with facilities for cre
mating 30 bodies at a,time, will be
used. The vessels will be anchored
at a wharf at Shibura, and, after
funeral services^ftave been held %n
board, they will leave for a point
about seven miles off the bay for the
cremation.
GARDEN OF EDEN
WANTS NURSES
American Church Crusaders Are
Hampered by Lack of
Medical Skill.
GALL FROM "CRADLE OF RAGE"
Arabs Show Willingness to Accept
What Formerly They Fought
Mesopotamia Is Completely
Changed by World War. i
-New-York.Wanteffr ^DScTors^'Sna
nurses for the Garden of Eden.
The call comes from the "cradle of
the race" itself, the land watered by
the Tigris and the EuphratesMeso
potamia. And the need stands be
tween American crusaders and the an
swer to their prayers for 30 years.
For decades the Garden of Eden and
all the vast expanse of desert, steppe
and fertile coast land that is Arabia
have flamed with the fanaticism of
pagan and of Moslem tribes. For 30
years the mission workers among
these Arabs, notably the Arabish^mis
sion of the Reformed Church of Amer
ica, have prayed for a means to pene
trate 'this barrier and reach these wild
tribesmen. And they have prayed for
a change in the spirit of the people.
Prayers Are Answered.
To both prayers have come answers.
An economic, social and religious
study of the country now being con
ducted by the Interchurch World
Movement as a means to making prac
ticable a closer co-operation of Ameri
can Evangelical churches in their com
mon tasks, shows that Mesopotamia
has been completely changed by the
world war and that all Arabia has
been affected. The survey shows, too,
that medical work is the best and in
many cases the only possible method
by which the initial contact may be
established between the pagans and
Moslems, on one side, and the cru
saders of the cross, on the other.
And now, when the Arabs show a
willingness to accept what formerly
they foughtwhen unparalleled op
portunities for service are offered the
crusadersthey are helpless for lack
of doctors and nurses.
The finest hospital of the Reformed
church mission is standing idle, re
ports the Interchurch World Move
ment survey.
And the survey reveals more than
the need of medical men and women.
There is a shortage of workers, both
foreign and native.
Large Unexplored Territory.
Arabia, the survey shows, contains
the largest unexplored territory in
Asiapossibly in the world. It has a
total arpa of 1,230,276 square miles
and it lies in the southeastern part of
the great peninsula. The crusaders of
the cross have been limited to the east
ern coast and the vicinity of Eden.
Hejaz, the Moslem "holy land"
where lie Mecca and Medina, has no
missionaries. Hadramaut, with a popu
lation of 500,000, is untouched. There
is not a single mission station far in
land.
At the hour of opportunity, created
by the world war, the call comes from
the crusaders, through the Interchurch
World Movement survey first for more
doctors and nurses for the Garden of
Eden and the Arabian interior and
then for more workers.
On the basis of what the survey has
revealed, the Interchurch World Move
ment is shaping a program for the co
operative effort of the Protestant
churches in America to win the nomad
tribes of Arabia, and the present
dwellers in the garden, to the ideals
of Christianity.
^y*
i
S
Gruel Pot of Famous St George's
Workhouse in London Goes to
Museum.
i A
London.St. George's workhouse,
just south of London bridge, where
Oliver Twist had the audacity to ask
for a second helping of thin gruel, has
been closed by the poor law authorities
and the inmates have been transferred
elsewhere.
The gruel of which Dickens' child
hero and his fellow sufferers partook
was ^nade in a copper cauldron, which
is to be presented to the Southmark
borough council's museum.
tf&
1U *$
Major Is Jailed for
Gardening in Nightie
i Los Angeles, Cal.Because
he persisted in attending to his
i garden clad only in his abbrevi
ated night shirt, Maj. E. A.
Weed, seventy-nine, of Santa
Monica, was arrested. Major
Weed's arrest came following a I
complaint made against him by
Robert H. Green. The police
say that MajOT Weed was seen
in his garden by many of the* I
neighbors, who had remon
strated with him in vain. Dur
ing the war drives, Major Weed
did some excellent work. He is
a widower.
.-~e..t..tM
Rat Kilting Time Comes Again.
FalmouSi, Ky.The successful rat
killing party staged on the J. J. Eck
ler farm has suggested that "rat par
ties" would be a good thing for the
farmers of that section. The rodents
are particularly bad at present, trat
there are fewer on the Eckler*farm
than in many a day. While moving
tobacco, sticks three members of the
party killed 83 rats and at the same
time' permitted six to get away.
Food for the Judicial Intellect. %_:
London, Ky.Should fathers of
girls have their racking chairs strong
enough to hold two people? That was
the question involved in a $6 suit here.4*
A father sued a young man for that
sum for wrecking a rocking chair when
the girl sat on her bean's lap. The fa~
the decision, hoi
as strong as it
father recovered damages in the magls-' Peacock, overseas soldier, whose body
trate's office, bat Jndg Laker reversed ^arrived *ere for burial, members of
lg the chair was not^ 1
ul have beeni"
ST. PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS. MINN.. SATURDAY OCTOBER 1. 1921
RAVAGED BY LOCUSTS
Province in Argentina Swept by
Plague of Insects.
Disappear as Suddenly as They Come,
Leaving Desert of Country
They Pass Through.
Buenos Aires.-A plague of locusts,
like that which in ancient Egypt "cov
ered the face of the earth," this year
descended upon the province of Santa
Fe. Similar offensives are almost an
nual events in one part or other^of Ar
gentina.
The locusts come suddenly and with
out warning. Where for a year or sev
eral .years-perhaps Bol^dne of the in
sects has been seen, a heritable cloud
of them 'will one day appear and settle
on the ground. These usually come
from the northwest, from the vast al
most uninhabited tracts in Bolivia, it
is supposed. They cover the earth like
a moving carpet, gradually moving on.
At first little damage is done, aside
from the inconvenience of having lit
erally millions of the insects covering
everything and even penetrating the
houses. But as they progress through
the country they bore holes into the
earth, preferably in hard spots such as
roadways, into which they deposit
their eggs. Within a short time the
larva are hatched and come forth. At
first these cannot fly, and it is at this
stage that they devour every living
plant within their path, with the ex
ception of a few species such as wil
low trees.
A little later the insects develop
their wings and, leaving the country
through which they have passed a
desert, they disappear almost as sud
denly as they came. Where they go
to has never been discovered.
Argentina has had recourse to many
methods of fighting the locusts. The
hation maintains organized locust
fighting squads, -something like those
formed to fight fires, and these are sent
every year to the sections invaded. In
addition, every rancher is held respon
sible for fighting the pest in his own
locality.
'One of the methods employed is to
dig trenches in which the insects are
collected, afterward being burned. But
no matter how many millions of them
are made away with in any such man
ner, it is impossible to block the pest,
owing to the great extent of Argentina,
much of which is still very sparsely
settled. i.
DOG WEARS AUTO SPECS
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Cripfl iill$8g0i&
*liBIKW
Even the bow-wows are being fitted
out with goggles for motoring, accord
ing to a report from Boston, which
states that goggles for dogs have been
placed on sale there. A prominent
Boston woman who is in the habit of
taking her dog on motoring trips start
ed the fad. The dog was suffering
from eye strain as the result of riding
out on windy days.
The photoj*shows Towser with his
specs.
Uncover Huge Ruins at
Garden of Gethsemane
London.The Palestine de
partment of antiquities, which
had charge of the exploration
work being carried out In the
city of Ascalon, announces the
discovery of some huge marble
pillars and statues, says a dis
patch from Jerusalem. The de
partment has also unearthed
some medieval and Fourth cen
tury churches and mosiac pave
ments at the foot of the Mount
of Olives, leading into the Gar
den of Gethsemane.
Run Big Bill in "Libre" Taxi.
Mexico City.In the belief that they
were graciously being extended the
freedom of the city, several Texas ex
cursionists halted a taxicab marked
Libre" and toured the city half^a
day. ts i
When presented with a rather large
bill they protested, telling the driver
his car was labeled "Free" and was
part of an entertaining committee's
courtesies. !S/^
The bill was paid, when they were
reliably informed that every tafdcab
"at* lIberty,
or "ready to hire" is
marked, ^Llbre."
Buried in the Wrong Town,
New .Albany, Ind.Although noth
ing is known here concerning Samuel
Legion took charge of
If:"i4^^
Defective Page
RICH FORSAKE
FIFTH AVENUE
Tradesmen Steadily Break Exclu
siveness of Noted Residence
District of New York*
MRS. VANDEBB1LT LEADS WAY
New Exclusive District Expected to
Spring Up in Section Where Near
Slums Existed BeforeLong
Fight for District.
New York.Stealthy but steady ad
vances by tradesmen, covering a period
of more than twenty years, have vir
tually broken the residential exclusive
ness of Fifth avenue, known the world
over as the home precinct of the Van
derbilts, Carnegies, Harrimans, Plants,
Fricks and other wealthy families.
One by one mansions which housed
international personages and gave to
Fifth avenue much of its glitter and
fame are surrendering to commercial
enterprise, and the rich are seeking
homes in new "exclusive" parts of the
city. Real estate men, who have
watched with interest this aggression
of trade, say that another decade will
have-wiped out the last bit of residen
tial exclusiveness in the avenue.
Mrs. Vanderbilt Moves.
The change in Fifth avenue was re
flected in the recent purchase of prop
erty bordering the East river at Fifty
eighth street by Mrs. William K. Van
derbilt, Sr., where she intends to build
a home in a section known as Sutton
square. This bit of property is direct
ly across from Blackwell's island,
where a city prison is located, and is
almost underneath the Manhattan ap
proach to the Queensborough bridge.
Real estate men expect that Mrs. Van
derbilt's migration to the East river
will mean a new exclusive district in
a part of the city where near-slums
existed before.
Mrs. Vanderbilt, who a few years
back helped to make Fifth avenue his
tory with her brilliant social activities,
said when she purchased the East
river property that Fifth avenue had
"lost its residential atmosphere, which
was its most valuable charm." Traffic
and crowds, resulting from the trade
invasion, she said, had taken away its
exclusiveness.
Wage Fight for District.
The fight to "save" Fifth avenue has
been waged since the late nineties,
when real estate men began to get op
tions on property near the magnificent
mansions. Members of the Vanderbilt
.family and others owning homes there
expended millions of dollars in buying
up property in an effort to stem the
tide.
Much of this property was purchased
at exorbitant figures, and after a lapse
of years has fallen back for business
use. Hotels, banking houses, jewelry
stores, millinery and fine tailoring es
tablishments have gradually crept
northward along the thoroughfare.
The home which Mrs. Vanderbilt is
forsaking at Fifth avenue and Fifty
second street will become the site of a
trust company. Its sale was made pos
sible as the result of the death of Mr.
Vanderbilt in Paris, when the house,
owned by his estate, was sold to the
highest bidder. The first actual break
in the Vanderbilt holdings came when
Gen. Cornelius Vanderbilt leased his
home at Fifth avenue and Fifty-fourth
street to a shoe firm.
The residence of the late Henry C.
Frick, steel magnate, will eventually
go to the city for use as a museum.
TERROR DREAM KILLS VOICE
Family Near Death, Farmer Visions
Fatal CrashBecomes Mute and
Hair Turns White.
Onawa, Iowa.A total loss of speech
followed a dream in which H, M. Jes
sen, a farmer, dreamed that he saw
his wife and children mangled under
an overturned automobile.
Jessen and his family had planned
an automobile trip to Sioux City. De
tained by farm chores, he followed the
car by train and arrived in Sioux City
before his family did. Sitting in the
lobby of a hotel, he dreamed of the
fatal accident.
Awakening, he frantically waved
his arms and opened and closed h,is
mouth, but could not speak. When his
family arrived they said their car had
stalled on a North Western track, and
a train came within a few inches of
the car before it slopped, narrowly
averting a fatal crash.
Jessen appears to have been strick
en permanently deaf, and his hair has
turned white. i
Mtners Earn $5,000 a Year.
Cardiff, Wales.Some coal miners
of South Wales are being paid as high
as $5,000 a year, while wages amount
ing to $3,500 and $4,000 are fairly com
mon. Despite this, the government
is having difficulty in collecting Income
taxes from the miners. Last year
nearly 15,000 of them were summoned
for non-payment, but only 12 of this
number were committed to prison.
A. Boy Given Life Sentence.
^Wheeling, W. Va.LIfe imprison
ment was the sentence passed npon
sixteen-year-old Samuel Elevens, for
merly of Little Pock, Ark-, in court
here, after the boy had pleaded guilty
to a charge of murder. The lad was
accused of having killed C. F. Grand
staff, a car inspector, In a shack near
Wheeling last October.
SMUGGLERS RUN WILD
Traffic Carried on Huge Scale on
German Border.
Customs Officials Are in Plots and
Government Is Unable to.
Check Evil.
Berlin.Smuggling over the Dutch
and Danish frontiers, which the Ger
man government had gone to great ef
fort to suppress, again is flourishing
"on a colossal scale," and at some
points with the full knowledge and
connivance of many government offi
cials, according to reports reaching
here.
Smugglers are declared to be out
bidding the government for the aid
of dishonest officials, and the "ver
itable army of customs officers on the
borders have permitted millions of
marks' worth of tobacco, cigars, ciga
rettes, coffee and sugar to cross the
border duty free within the last few
months."
Flying squadrons of customs office
have been organized by the govern- i
ment to catch the smugglers who are i
feaid to have so thoroughly system
atized their operations that "customs I
receipts are rapidly falling back to
nothing, for custom control is again i
only on paper."
Fifty thousand pounds of coffee are
being smuggled over the border daily
fit one point, a report says, and smug
piers everywhere are working with the I
sympathy and assistance of all dwel
ters along the frontiers.
Men, women and even children, are
said to be engaged in this trade. High
prices, low wages of customs officials
jtnd the depreciated value of the mark
Ss credited as one of the principal
sauses for the widespread violation
of import and export regulations.
The smugglers are described as be
ing so well organized and so confi
dent they carry on their business "by
land and wholesale scale, and quite
openly."
Count 'em. Forty on each ear. It
is one of the big customs of the
"Garo Fills" tribe in India for a
warrior's widow to wear these unique
earrings as a means of showing her
sorrow.
GREENLAND IS MOVING WEST
Danish Scientists Figure It Has Trav
eled 875 Miles in 100,000
Years.
Copenhagen.Greenland is slowly
moving in a westerly direction. Ac
cording to observations made in 1907
by J. P. Koch of the Danish Mylius
Erichson scientific expedition, Green
land was three minutes further west
than in 1870, when a German expedi
tion made astronomical observations.
,Ih both instances the same northern
latitude was found. Therefore, Green
land moved west 1,333 yards in 37
years.
The first observation of the longi
tude of Greenland was made in 1823.
Comparing the findings in 1823 and
1870 one arrives at the conclusion
that Greenland "wandered" ten yards
westerly every year. That tends to
show that Greenland and Norway,
now about 875 miles apart, once were
connected, the separation taking place
50,000 or 100,000 years .ago.
Weasel Leaps Into Jaws
of 'Gator for Safety
Pascagoula, Miss.A party of
hunters which has just returned
here from Bayou Casotte reports
that on Saturday the men saw an
alligator prepare to attack a
weasel, whereupon the weasel,
with remarkable alacrity, leaped
into the 'gator's extended jaws
and slid down into its stomach.
The hunters say they were as
tonished at the actions of the
weasel and awaited results.
Within fifteen minutes they ob
served the weasel eating Its way
through the entrails of the mon
ster.
According to the hunters, the
fondness for eggs prompted the
slender animal to take Its
chances In the alligator. ~z
4 f^i#*y^*#i#^#^^i#*#^^
Consumers Back Textile Mills.:'
Gera, Germany.A great consumers'
association has been formed at this
manufacturing center of Thuringia to
purchase the products of the Gera tex
tile mills in an attempt to force down
prices and relieve unemployment.
2.40 PER YEAR
MANY INDUSTRIES
TIED TO TOBACCO
Prohibition of Weed Would Mean
Big Financial Loss to
Allied Trades.
WHO USES THE MATCH?
The Smoker MainlyAlso Responsible
for Spending Hundreds of Millions
Annually for Licorice, Sugar,
Coal, Cigar Boxes, Tin
Foil, Etc.
By GARRET SMITH
"Got a match?"
How many times a day is that ques
tion asked in these United States?
How many more times is the question
unnecessary because most pockets are
kept well supplied with the useful
little article? Anyhow, inasmuch as it
is estimated that there are 30,000,000
tobacco users in the country, we would
guess that the answer to that question
would run into the hundreds of mil
lions.
For if it weren't for the smokers in
these -days of electric lights how many
matches would be used? A pretty
small proportion of the number of
these "sticks of blazes" produced in
the country e%ery year. Abolish to
bacco and the match business would be
shot to pieces.
But the match business is only one
of a dozen or more allied industries
which derive large revenues directly or
indirectly from the tobacco trade and
would suffer heavily if national pro
hibition of tobacco were to go into
effect as some of our reformers would
have it. The annual sales of tobacco
products, based on retail prices, is es
timated at $1,937,000,000. Of the cost
of producing and selling this quantity
of cigars, cigarettes and other forms
of the weed, some hundreds of million
dollars are paid out for other things
than the raw tobacco and labor of
making it up.
$25,000,000 a Year for Boxes
For example, the tobacco trade con
sumes each year 45,000,000 pounds of
licorice, 50,000,000 pounds of sugar,
both used in flavoring tobacco, and
650,000 tons of coal. It is estimated
that the value of wooden cigar boxes
used is $25,000,000 a year, quite an
item to the lumber business and to
manufacturers of the boxes.
In making these boxes 550,000
pounds of nails are employed. Other
large items used in making and pre
paring tobacco for sale are tin and
lead foil, paper for bags and cigarette
wrappers, cloth for tobacco bags, la
bels, coupons, etc., involving the print
ing trade extensively.
Then building contractors and manu
facturers of machinery are largely in
terested. Investments in plants and
machinery employed in manufactur
ing tobacco are estimated at $102,000,-
000. Replacement, up-keep and mter
est on the investment make no small
sum annually.
And let realty men note there are
approximately 325,000 tobacco farms
i in the country, with a total estimated
valuation of $160,000,000. Of further in
terest to real estate men is the fact
that there are 700,000 retail establish
ments selling tobacco, involving a total
rental and up-keep impossible to esti
mate, besides the large amount of of
fice space occupied by administrative
branches of the general business.
The insurance men, too, have their
share of the pickings. The tobacco
bus ness pays out annually $7,000,000
in premiums in the United States.
And there are the railroads who reap
revenue from 2,210,000 tons of tobacco
products every year.
As for the advertising business,
here again it is impossible to form
any estimate of the enormous annual
outlay.
The prohibition of tobacco would also
knock a good-sized hole in the receipts
of the United States government.
The internal revenue receipts from
tobacco for the fiscal year 1020 amount
ed to $295,809,355 44. Customs duties
provided an additional $25,000,000 in
round figures, making the total revenue
return to the government $320,000,000.
Influence on Popular Sentiment
It is this interlocking of the tobacco
bus-ness with so many other interests
and the vast amount of financial loss
that would be involved in the abolition
of tobacco that is one of the most se
rious aspects of the proposal to pro
hibit the sale of tobacco, a proposal,
however, which has little support by
public sentiment if the newspaper edi
tors of the country are correct in their
estimate of that sentiment.
In a poll of the editors made recently
by the Tobacco Merchants' Association
of the United States, through the Press
Service Company of New York City,
95 per cent of the 7,847 editors who
replied expressed the opinion that the
people of their communities were op
posed to any law against tobacco. As
these editors represent some 80,000,000
readers the results form a pretty gen
eral test of national opinion.
In their remarks accompanying their
replies many of the editors expressed
it as their opinion that the oppos tion
of their communities to the abolition
of tobacco was based to some extent at
least on the damage such a change
would do to the business interests of
the community. This was particularly
true in the tobacco growing states and
centers where there were large tobacco
plants. **&*''*. i
But when the extent Of the business
Involved in the allied interests of the
tobacco trade is considered, as above
briefly outlined, it is clear that there
Is hardly a section of the country that
wctald not be affected directly or In
directly by abolishing tobacco. %&
%i
r.
'?&i*3?i